The Golden Rules of Thrift Shopping
So the question is begging to be asked: what’s so great about thrift? Well, as a girl with Vogue tastes and a Walmart budget, second hand shopping allows for more creative prospects in dressing than boring old Winners or worse, the over-priced (yawn) Mall. It is hit and miss, but at least there is the prospect of something interesting.
I used to be a slow and steady merchandise scanner, carefully, lovingly, making my way through the racks, pulling back each item for inspection. But that approach eventually gave way to a much more efficient, strategic approach as the years passed and I had less time and patience to squander. I became an “expert” fabric appraiser – after all, fabric is the first and most essential thing to look at with used clothes. It tells you a lot – how old is the item, the quality, how worn. If a piece of clothing isn’t made of a quality fabric, I don’t even bother pulling it out for further inspection. So that was lesson number one in refining my thrift shopping skills.
Lesson number two is that not every type of clothing is worth much of a look. For instance, I only scan T-shirts and tank tops if I am in a leisurely mood. These items typically get worn and washed a lot and are usually faded, stretched and generally unfresh looking. Besides, they are usually inexpensive to purchase new, so why bother with some else’s old pit-stained jersey? There are exceptions to the rule of course, but when I am short on time, these are the first racks I skip.
Lesson number three is that the best days to go are mid week, as the stock in Thrift shops tends to get thoroughly combed over by the weekend crowd. Mid-day, mid-week is when you will find the best stuff, as that is when most people (for obvious reasons) don’t get to shop and that is also when most of the new inventory gets put on the floor, as sales staff have more time. With Thrift shopping, timing is everything as there are no duplicates! The person who goes the most and goes at the right time will usually get the best finds.
For the above reasons, second hand shopping can evolve into more of a hobby (or obsession!) than regular shopping – it takes strategy, creativity and patience!
Getting the Most Out Thrift Shopping
What are my best bets? I head straight for jeans, long sleeve shirts & blouses, skirts, sweaters, jackets & blazers, pants, dresses, belts & scarves. These items are usually less worn, less washed, and made of better quality fabrics.
My all time best finds are two pairs (different times) of new True Religion jeans (that fit!), a teal and brown hounds-tooth vintage 50’s swing coat with a fur collar in great condition, Fendi trouser jeans, a mod Holt-Renfrew Mini with fuschia and orange daisies and a chocolate brown leather mini-kilt. Of course for every score there are probably 10 trips when I leave empty handed.
And that’s another trick: be willing to leave with nothing! With Thrift shopping, it’s the thrill of the hunt, so enjoy the process. If a shopping trip doesn’t yield a find, that’s part of the bargain. I am a firm believer in holding out for the right thing. If you don’t love it right away, you likely won’t love it later.
In a lot of second had shops, the pricing of brand labels is patchy at best, meaning that you might find a pair of lack-luster Tommy Hilfiger jeans for $19.99, while a Betsy Johnson shirt is only $3.99 (like the one I found). It mostly depends on the brand recognition ability of the person in the back room – so if you are fairly brand savvy, you might score the high end score of the century that has been over looked by the pricing gods – you know, those ladies in the back room yakking away while they wield their pricing guns in absolute power.
My favorite consignment stores are the ones run by people (usually women) who love fashion and know the importance of a great find – the clothes are well edited, well cared for and well priced. I went to one recently in Orillia, Ontario that fit this bill and it was a true joy! It was well laid out, and there was the sense that treasures were lurking around every corner. What fun!!!
Not all Thrift shops are Created Equal
The best stocked second hand stores are a result of a particular juxtaposition of criteria: they are often in cities or towns where there is an upper-middle class population, but the location of the store is not in a heavily trafficked area. Thrift shops right in big city centers are not always worth visiting, unless you have a lot of time on your hands and can stop by very frequently. These locations have an intensely competitive client-base of style savvy shoppers, so the likelihood that you will get a good find is significantly diminished. On the plus side, they are great places for people watching. Ultra-cool university kids, bag ladies, horn-rim glassed intellectual types, Leonard Cohenesque old men: downtown Thrift shops are a mecca of interesting people.
On the other hand, second hand shops in smaller, more rural communities can be pretty bleak. The clothes tend to be donated by seniors, farmers, and people who shop at the same, pathetic local shopping malls. But if you are persistent, you may be rewarded by finding a crazy vintage piece at these places, because the locals don’t care about or recognize that kind of clothing. But even that is increasingly untrue, as style consciousness has begun to permeate even the most remote community. Thank you, world-wide-web.
Thrift shopping is all about the tributaries that are feeding the shop – where do the clothes come from? The bigger and more varied the population base, the more incredible the second hand shopping can be – have you ever checked out vintage shopping in California or New York? It’s a whole other ball game, but can be incredibly expensive and elite. So here in Ontario, we may not have the same incredible availability but we DO have low prices and the chance to score some great stuff, cuz there’s less of us vying for it.
In our neck of the woods, the best Thrift shopping is in mid size towns that are approximate to a large urban center. This means that there is diverse shopping nearby (which means good donations), while the store probably won’t usually have the kind of loyal, hardcore (and style savvy) clientele of those in the city.
Suzanne Bowes Wickett is a Thrifty Fashionista who resides in Oakville, Ontario with her husband and 2 daughters. She also co-authors a blog with her sister Charlene.
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